About Us

DHOC Vision Statement The DuPage Homeownership Center will be a leader and a resource to educate and empower individuals to be successful homeowners through the use of innovative programming and partnerships.

DHOC History and Mission

The DuPage Homeownership Center (DHOC) is a nonprofit organization that provides a full range of services to promote responsible sustainable homeownership, with an emphasis on serving first-time homebuyers, low- and moderate-income households and homeowners in crisis. We were created in 1991 as a result of a DuPage County Affordable Housing Task Force Report.

Credentials

DHOC is certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide prepurchase and default counseling. We also have counselors on staff who are certified to provide reverse mortgage counseling as members of the HUD-HECM National Counseling Network.

DHOC Accountability

DHOC has a national reputation for excellence. We have received awards from the National Association of Realtors, Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and our programs have been profiled in six national best practice publications, including President Clinton’s 1995 National Homeownership Strategy.

In 2007, DHOC Executive Director Dru Bergman received the Affordable Housing Leadership Award from the Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association, and DHOC was named the Notable Not-for-Profit Organization of the Year at the DuPage Business Ledger’s Annual Awards for Business Excellence.

DHOC believes strongly in accountability. We have annual financial audits by an independent accounting firm and biennial on-site performance reviews by HUD. We use a customized MS Access database to track all of our counseling clients, thus enabling us to provide quantitative performance measures. In addition, we provide satisfaction surveys to all clients upon completion of services and use this feedback to refine and improve our services.

DHOC Values

Respect: Services must honor the dignity of the individual.

Collaboration: Strategic partnerships, and a sharing of both resources and obligations, will produce the most effective and widespread results.

Empowerment and Responsibility: Clients’ learning of the importance of financial stability, self-sufficiency and community is critical in the path to successful ownership.

Integrity: The highest standards of practices, ethics and professionalism are vital in dealings among staff, clients, the Board of Directors and the public.

Citizenship: Accessible homeownership creates a diverse and committed citizenry, thus advancing social justice while also strengthening communities, the workforce, the economy and the county as a whole.